Deconstructing the 3rd Presidential Debate

The town hall format of ABS CBN is structured for the candidates to objectively submit themselves for the voters to assess their capability to lead the nation. Voters may look at them independently or in comparison with others. But the viewers must know how to discern. The flow makes its easy for viewers to be enlightened.

Town hall opened with my Vision for 2022 and ended with why I can make that vision happen. Inspect my track record and my competency. To provide tangible evidence, here are my views on some issues of the plights of the fisherman, the overseas Filipino worker, the urban commuter, those needing healthcare from the remote areas, the indigenous group, the marginalized. If you have doubts about qualification because of perceived weaknesses and charges against me, here is my stand.

Their visions for the Philippines are:

·         Miriam: Country where there is a uniform rule of law. Economy is healthy, agriculture is modernized. We have a better trained and equipped police. City free from congestion

·         Digong: Corrected injustices in the government, a clean government free of crime

·         Jejomar: Filipino is proud in a prosperous Philippines, families living better lives

·         Grace: A country with a caring government. With permanent employment, food on the table, respect for rights especially the women

·         Mar: A progressive and decent Philippines with a bright future. A country that is free from fear where the poor has a sure place to say. A country free to dream

I can deliver the vision because:

·         Miriam: I am best qualified to lead this nation. I have most important requirements to qualify for the presidency - academic, professional and moral excellence. We are not just looking for a ordinary leader but the President of the Philippines. And I will not quit.

·         Digong: I, an ordinary man am mad about crime, drugs. I will ask them to stop. Because when I say stop, people follow. When I say it, I do it.

·         Jejomar: I am capable of delivering what I promised. I am the most experienced, an administrator and a decisive leader.

·         Grace: With the problems facing the country, it needs a mother with a fresh perspective to make Filipino lives better.

·         Mar: Stay the course with me continuing good, honest, decent governance. We can but we have to rally together to bring the Philippines forward. We can as there are a lot of decent Filipinos joining us in this fight.

I summarized these thoughts in Tweeter in three lines: ‪#‎PiliPinasDebates2016 has a logical outline. What is your 2022 vision? Why do I think I can do it? I have an important program for the marginalized.

If still unsure, this may influence you. Names have been deleted for your unbiased assessment:

1. Kung best of the best, gusto mo ng superiority
2. Kung galit at punong puno na, sa pagbabago, askyon at bakal na kamay
3. Kung wala ng pagasa, yung libre at kahit ano sasakyan
4. Kung may inaaasa pa, sakay ka sa pangarap.
5. Kung level headed o mahinahon, hanap mo facts at info, paliwanag at realistic performance

Closing statements links

Miriam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDAYR1ioBBw

Digong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko2qroKnNMM

Jejomar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgVozH0Z8cc

Grace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2lpnorI-bM

Mar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5M66z3DKY0

https://www.facebook.com/mar.roxas.official/videos/vb.32626764352/10153711643339353/?type=2&theater

Retrieving an academic work recalled more than a book

Linkedin, a social network for professionals prompted me to add any academic work I did in college in my profile to enhance it. I remembered my thesis, a descriptive and exploratory a case with a survey which I designed, executed, manually typed and defended.

That was decades ago. How else can I retrieve the file if it was not saved in an electronic copy?

It brought me back to my college library at UP Diliman. Fortunately, it had on file a list of thesis and dissertations accepted by the Dean. The works have been cataloged with an assigned call number including mine. But only those submitted in the 1980s and beyond were on the shelf. The rest was turned over to the UP Main Library archive. The college librarian listed down my call number and informed the staff at the Main Library archive to locate my work in preparation for my request at the site.

After a short stroll at the college campus, I was admitted at the entrance but only upon checking for an orange card. An orange card is similar to an ID allowing alumni and guests use the facilities. Acknowledging my credentials, I climbed up to the third floor where a staff member was ready with my thesis.

Leafing through the pages, it brought back memories of my productive and stimulating college days spent learning, studying, discovering in a company of illustrious teachers and schoolmates. The documentation captured in my printed thesis helped recall the interviews I made, the house to house survey conducted and the formulation session done with fellow classmates with our advisers.

With a copy preserved, I was able to capture the core of my works and save it electronically.

Energy Conservation Information Campaign: A Case Study LG 993.5 1976 M3 R39.

The study was both descriptive and an exploratory. The first part of the study was exploratory tracing the history of the Enercon Movement and the defined organizational set-up. The information campaign on energy conservation launched by the movement was presented expounding on the themes, messages and campaign strategies. The second part was an exploratory study where a survey was used to determine the effects of the information campaign to a typical urban community in Metro Manila.

The theoretical bases in evaluating the information campaign were The Diffusion Theory of Everett Rogers and the Reinforcement Theory of Hovaland, Janis and Kelly. The diffusion process is the spread of a new idea from its source of invention to its ultimate users or adopters. Reinforcement states that there is learning thru exposure and this exposure is heavily based on reward and punishment.

Study presented results on the effect of the program to the target audience in terms of influencing to save, convincing them on the need to conserve fuel and electricity and acting on measures to conserve energy.

Other than researching my own academic work, the visit was significant as the study, submitted in partial fulfillment for a degree was cataloged in the UP Integrated Library System giving me the honor of having contributed a unpublished work for other researches to refer to in the future.

The visit made me recollect those moments when reading books was a thrill because of the learning and discovery. The facility accessible to me then is still available now except that the manually typed book catalog has now been replaced with an online data base.

I am not complaining though that my work has been filed at the archive. At least it is there when I have a need to look back at the past.

Wanting to have those "Aha" moments?

Finding for a solution to a mechanical problem. Or figuring out why the directory of contact on the cell phone you recently updated is now missing. Stale ideas and cannot proceed to write?. Figuring out how to end an essay. Looking for the appropriate adjective to a situation. Planning an itinerary where there are no known connecting flights. Solving a mathematical problem? Forgot a singer? His song? Name of street? Your former office mate? Brainstorming? Drawing out a laundry list of melodies?

For the more practical ones, caught in traffic and could not figure out the best route? Short of money and experiencing difficulty in making both ends meet? Your electronic gadget simply does not work and yet it worked the last time.

All these long for an AHA moment. That moment of sudden insight and discovery, inspiration, insight, recognition and comprehension. It comes infrequently. But when it does, it feels good. It is almost ecstatic.

How does one condition himself to open the valves for those moments? How does one induce it for the aha moment to come? Does one need a coach? Does one just patiently wait for it?

When was the last time you had that “AHA!” My most recent ones were finally getting CNN Phil signal on my digital box by adjusting some settings and moving the antennae, finding an acquaintance on FB without any knowledge on family name, name and affiliation yet was discovered, finding a way out from a lost trail in a mountain climb, discovering how much more resources I have from untapped investments or a simple discovery of a food outlet by sheer adventure. Most gratifying was decoding a password for a secured online account.

From my experience, either I sleep on it to problem solve, force a solution or hibernate in a nature trip for the abundance of ideas to flow in. Pope Francis too offered an approach, let the sleeping St. Joseph figure it out for you. What works for me is keeping an open mind, freeing it from clutter and bias. The Aha may come immediately, or days and some even months. The most recent was the thought of writing an article about it and publishing it in my notes.

My hope is someone at least likes or shares this article. But that is no longer in the influence of my aha.